Standby electrical system



Dec. 9, 1958 l c. IPPOLITO 2,864,005

STANDBY ELECTRICAL SYSTEM I Filed Nov. 28, 1956 Zo/e *"2 /9/"642/ AYTDR NEYS' United States Patent-O STANDBY ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Carmelo Ippolito, Seymour, Conn., assignor to Dual-Lite Company, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut This invention relates to electrical systems for emergency or standby use, and Vmore particularly to standby systems incorporating safety means by which defects or failures in the system will be indicated.

The present invention is concerned with improvements in the electrical standby system described and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 464,928, tiled October 27, 1954, now Patent No. 2,804,554, and entitled Emergency Standby Electric Service Apparatus.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved standby electrical system wherein failure of the components or wiring thereof willV result in an alarm or indication being given, even though the standby system is not at the time in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved standby or emergency lighting system wherein filament burnouts or bulb ybreakage during those intervals when the emergency system is not being utilized will cause an indication or alarm to be given.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved electrical standby system with supervisory or safety means, as above set forth, wherein an attention-demanding signal will be given upon a failure occurring, together with means for rendering inoperative the signal prior to correction of the fault, and wherein the act of correcting the fault will again result in the attention-demanding signal being automatically given, whereby assurance may be had that the fault has in fact been corrected.

A feature of the invention resides in the provision of an improved standby electrical system and automatic control means therefore, wherein failure of a magnet coil in the automatic control means will not render the standby system inoperative fbut instead will convert such system into a signal means, to indicate such failure.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved standby electrical system having all of the above features and advantages, yet which is nevertheless simple in its construction, economical to fabricate, and reliable in operation over an extended period of time.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing accompanying this specification similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts wherever possible.

The drawing is a schematic circuit diagram of an improved standby or emergency electrical system vof lighting, with supervisory and safety means as provided by invention.

As shown, the improved standby system of this invention comprises a plurality of standby circuits, here shown as placed in three groups numbered 10, lliand 12 respectively and labeled zone #l area, zone #2 area, and zone #3 area. The standby circuits of the groups 10, 11 and 12 are supplied with energy from two-wire feeders 13, 14 and 15 leading from ,a fuse .distribution board 16 which is in turn supplied by a two-wire feeder 17 Vfrom an auxiliary power source 18. Connected with the power source 18 is a battery failure alarm 19 and also charging feeders 20 leading to a main power source.

The fuse distribution board 16, feeder 17, auxiliary supply 18, battery failure alarm 19 and charging feeders 20 are illustrated and described in detail in my copending application above referred to, and since they form no part per se of the present invention, further detailed description thereof will not be given here. For the kpurposes of the present invention it will sufce to note that the feeders 13, 14 and 15 are supplied with energy from a power source which is termed herein an auxiliary power source, since it is intended for standby or emergency use, and not for regular use under ordinary conditions.,

It `will be noted that the standby circuit groups 11 and 12 are duplications of the standby circuit group 10,

and accordingly only the latter will be described in de-v tail, so as to avoid unnecessary duplication and redundancy.

Considering the circuit group 1,0, there is shown al bank of emergency lights or components 22, 23, 24 and 25 having a `common supplywire 26 constituting one of the lines of the two-wire auxiliary supply 13. The remaining terminals of the lamps 22-25 are connected by means of wires 28, 29, 30 and 31 respectively to switch or relay contacts 33, 34, 35 and 36. Cooperable contact blades 38, 39, 40, and 41 are provided, electrically connected together by a wire 42 constituting the other lead of the two-wire feeder 13. The blades 38- 42 are all mechanically joined for simultaneous movement, and accordingly closing of the switch comprising the blades 38-41 and the contacts 33-36 will result in energization of all of the lamps 22--25 from the auxiliary supply line 13 and power source 18.

Automatic actuation of the said circuit control means comprising the blades 38-41 is effected by a magnet coil .44 connected to a main supply feeder 45 comprising wires 46 and 47, the arrangement being such that when the `coil 44 is energized, the switch blades 38- 41 will be held in open-circuit position, and when the magnet coil 44 is deenergized, the switch blades 38-41 will be spring actuated to closed-circuit positions.

By this organization, any failure of the power source connected to the feeder 45 will result in auto-matic energization of the emergency lamps 22-25, and upon service being restored in the feeder 45, t-he lamps .22, 25 will have their normal energization removed, whereby they will not remain lighted. y

In accordance with the present invention I provide4 a novel and improved indicator or safety means, which is also termed herein a supervisory means, whereby anv indication and alarm will be automatically given when-` ever there is a failure or open circuit in the lamps 22, 25

or the standby circuits therefor comprising the wires 26,

28, 29, 30 and 31. This means comprises, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated herein, a visualvv signal constituted of a lamp 50, together with an audible signal constituted of a bell 51, said lamp and bell being connected by a `common wire 52 to the main supply line 47. The other terminal of the lamp 50 is connected by. a wire 54 to stationary contacts 55, 56, 57 and 58'of a plurality of relays whose movable contacts or blades 60, 61, 62 and 63 are electrically connected together by gized. One terminal of each of the coils 67-70 lisconnected to a common-wire 72 which is joined to 'a'. stationary relayv contact 73fengageable by themovable t contact blade 38 when all of the contact blades 38-41 are in the aforementioned open-circuit positions. The remaining terminals of the relay coils 67-70 are connected respectively by' wires to the stationary relay contacts 153-36. It will now bev evident that, for the aforementioned open-"circuit condition of the relay `comprising the blades B58- 41, all of the relay coils 67-70 will be series-connected with the standby lamps 22-25, the said components thereby continuously receiving energy from the standby line 13.

Such energy will be very appreciably under the rated current for the lamps 22-25, and therefore said lamps will have no useful or appreciable illumination. However, the relay coils 67--7 0 will receive their nominal rated current by virtue of such series connections, and therefore said coils will maintain the relay contacts Gti-63 in the respective, open-circuit positions. Of course, upon energization of the relay coil 44 and Separation of the switch blade 38 from the relay contact 73, the relay coils 67--70 will be deenergized, thereby releasing the relay contacts 60-63 for movement to the closed-circuit positions.

The common wire 54 connected to the relay contacts 55-58 also connects with a movable relay contact 75 which is cooperable with stationary relay contacts 76 and 77, being normally spring-biased into engagement with the latter contact and being movable into engage'- ment with the contact 76 upon energization of a relay coil 78 having its ends connected with the wires 52 and 54. In conjunction with the relay contacts '76 and 77 I provide a manually settable switch mechanism comprising a pair of alternately-operable switches 79 having one pair of stationary contacts connected together by a common wire S which is joined to the remaining terminal of the signal bell 51. With this organization the signal bell 51 may be connected to either the relay contact 76 or the contact 77, as effected by this operator.

Operation of my improved standby electrical system as above set forth, is as follows: When the main supply lines 46 and 47 are energized, the magnetism in the relay coil 44 will maintain the relay contacts 33-41 in the positions shown, wherein the lamps 22-25 are not illuminated but instead are only partially energized through the respective relay coils 67-70, such coils being, however, fully energized by the partial lamp currents. Accordingly, the relay contacts 60-63 will be maintained in the open-circuit positions shown, and the signals 50 and 51 will be inoperative, as well as the relay coil 78. Upon a breakage of any of the lamps 22-25, or burning out of any of the relay coils 67-70, or any other failure causing an open circuit in one of the standby circuits comprising the wires 28, 29, 30 and 31, the associated one of the relay coils 67-70 will be deenergized, releasing the associated relay `contact 60-63. Upon this occurring such relay contact will engage the cooperable one of the fixed relay contacts --58, thereby causing the lamp 50 to be illuminated.

Also, the relay coil 78 will be energized, swinging upward the relay contact 75 whereupon the circuit will be closed through the alarm bell 51. Therefore, there will be given a visual and also an audible alarm, indicating the failure in one of the standby circuits. The operator may now actuate the switch means 79 to shut of the alarm bell 51. Thereafter, the trouble may be located and corrected, and when this is done the relay coil 76 will be deenergized, along with reenergization of the affected one of the relay coils 67-70.

Such reenergization will now extinguish the signal light 50, and the deenergization of the coil 78 will cause reverse actuation of the relay contact 75 whereby the signal bell 51 will again be energized and causedto sound. Thus I am enabled to utilize the signal Vbell 51 not only to indicate a failure in a standby circuit, but also to indicate when suchfailure has been corrected. The operator will now again throw the switch means 79,

thereby shutting off the signal bell 51, and the apparatus will again be in operative condition, and in readiness for use at any time that service fails in the main supply lines 46, 47.

It will be understood that the sets of standby circuits 11, 12 will operate in a similar manner, to indicate a failure of components or standby circuits therein.

From the foregoing it may be seen that I have provided a novel and improved standby electrical system wherein failure of components or open circuiting of the standby circuits or relay coils connected therewith will result in both a visual and audible signal being given, and that I have further provided a novel means by which the audible signal may be utilized to indicate correction of the fault. The apparatus is seen to be relatively simple, economical to fabricate, yet sturdy and reliable in its operation over an extended period of use.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

l. In a standby electrical system, a main power source;A

an auxiliary power source; a standby electrical circuit for energization from said auxiliary source; a circuit control means rendered closed in response to failure of said main power source, for connecting the standby circuit to the auxiliary source; signal means operable from said main sourcegvand means responsive to an open circuit in said standby circuit, for causing energization of saidl signal means during intervals that the said circuitcontrol means are open.v j

2. The invention as defined in claim l, in which there is a second signal means operable from the main source,

and a power-actuated switch means having a coil connected in parallel with the first-mentioned signal means for connecting said second means for energization.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 in which there is a manually-operable means connected to said poweractuated switch means and said signal means, for reversing the operative and inoperative circuit connections for said second signal means.

4. The invention as defined in claim 2, in which the first-mentioned signal means comprises a visual indicator, and in which the second-mentioned signal means comprises an attention-demanding, audible signal.

5. The invention. as defined in claim l, in which the means responsive to an open circuit in the standby circuit includes a pair of power-actuated switches, and in which there is a manually-operable switch means connected to'one of said power-actuated switches and said signal means, for reversing the operative and inoperative circuit connections thereto, at the will of the operator.

6. The invention as defined in claim 5 in which the manually operable switch means comprises a pair of alternately-operable electric switches having two stationary contacts joined together and joined to the said signal means.

7. The invention as defined in claim 5 in which the signal means comprises an attention-demanding signal bell.

8. The invention as defined in claim 5, in which one of the power-actuated switches comprises a double throw switch having a pair of fixed contacts, and in which the manually operable switch means comprises a pair of alternately operable electric switches having a pair of fixed contacts respectively connected to said first-mentioned pair ofcfxed contacts.

9. The invention as defined in claim 5 in which one of said power-actuated switches comprises a single pole double throw switch having alternately engageable contacts connected 'to the said alternately operable switches.

.10. The invention as defined in claim 1, in which the standby electrical :circuit includes an emergency lamp, and in which the means responsive to an open circuit inlamp.

11. The invention as dencd in claim 1, in which the circuit control means comprises a relay having a coil connected to the main power source, said relay being of the single pole double throw type having two alternately engageable contacts, and in which the means responsive to an open circuit includes a relay coil having its terminals connected to said alternately-engageable contacts of the said relay.

References Cited in the le of this patent 

